CBS celebrates 20 years of the NCIS franchise with a special mini-marathon, discounted merchandise and more on Monday, Sept. 25. CBS is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the NCIS franchise with a special day later this month.
Per TVLine, CBS has declared Monday, Sept. 25 NCIS Day in honor of the franchise’s 20th anniversary on the network (it originally premiered on Sept. 23, 2003). To celebrate the impressive milestone, CBS will air a mini-marathon that day beginning with the first NCIS episode. The network will also launch its “social take” on the Bandium app that Gary Cole’s Special Agent Alden Parker introduced to the team in Season 19, which will allow “‘special agent fans at home’ to receive exclusive content, personalized shareable content, special announcements and more” through an opt-in messenger feature on Instagram and Facebook. NCIS merchandise will also be 20% off with the code NCIS20 at ParamountShop.com from Sept. 7 through Oct. 2.
Which NCIS Episodes Are Part of the Mini-Marathon?
The mini-marathon will kick off on Monday, Sept. 25 at 8/7c with Season 1, Episode 1, “Yankee White.” The official logline for that episode reads as follows: “NCIS Special Agents Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and medical examiner Dr. “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) arrive on Air Force One to investigate what initially appears to be a death by natural causes. But their investigation is hampered by inter-agency squabbles with the FBI and Secret Service, each believing that they should be the primary investigating unit. Gibbs cunningly gets control of the case from the others, but still has to go head-to-head with Secret Service Agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander).”
“Yankee White” will be followed at 9 pm by “SWAK,” the 22nd episode of Season 2. “When a letter sealed with a kiss is delivered to NCIS, Tony assumes it’s for him and opens it, only to release a mysterious powder into the NCIS squad room. Gibbs and the team are forced into quarantine in the NCIS autopsy room pending the results of tests to identify the strange powder. As Abby (Pauley Perrette) discovers the substance is a genetically altered version of the plague, Tony and Kate are placed in a bio-hazard isolation ward for fear of exposure. Gibbs and McGee (Sean Murray), meanwhile, race to track down who sent the letter before the deadly plague wreaks more havoc,” reads the synopsis.
The mini-marathon will come to a close with “All Hands” from Season 19 at 10 pm. “After a civilian research vessel in the North Atlantic picks up a small boat of wounded Navy officers, Special Agent Parker (Gary Cole) and his NCIS team arrive on the ship and are forced to hide after discovering terrorists on board,” the synopsis reads. “Also, Special Agent Knight (Katrina Law) takes a paper doll with her on the mission to capture photos for her niece’s grade school class. Martha Mitchell directed the episode from a script by Christopher J. Waild.”
The NCISverse Continues to Grow
Created by Donald P. Bellisario, the NCIS franchise follows special agents tasked with investigating military-related crimes. The main NCIS series was introduced in 2003 via a backdoor pilot on the legal drama series JAG. The success of NCIS has so far led to the development of four spinoff series — Los Angeles in 2009, New Orleans in 2014, Hawai’i in 2021 and Sydney in 2023. NCIS: New Orleans concluded in May 2021 after seven seasons, with NCIS: L.A. wrapping up this past May after 14 seasons. NCIS: Sydney will premiere on Paramount+ Australia on Nov. 10 and CBS on Nov. 13.
